Integrated circuit and related method for determining operation modes

ABSTRACT

An integrated circuit and a related method for determining an operation mode are disclosed. The exemplified integrated circuit includes a controller, a multi-function pin, and a mode determination circuit. The controller controls a power switch and is being set to operate in one of the operation modes including a first operation mode and a second operation mode. The multi-function pin is connected to an external resistor. The mode determination circuit detects a signal from the multi-function pin. The signal represents the resistance of the external resistor. If the resistance is within a first range, the controller is operated in the first operation mode. If the resistance is within a second range, the controller is operated in the second operation mode.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method for determining operation modes and a related circuit, and more particularly, to a method for determining operation modes and a related circuit used in a power supply.

2. Description of the Prior Art

In order to decrease the package size, the pin count of the integrated circuit (IC) is also preferably smaller. The concept of a multi-function pin is thus developed. The power management IC of the power supply also needs the multi-function pin to reduce the packaging cost.

For instance, a light emitting diode (LED) driver IC, HV9910B, manufactured and sold by a company, Supertex, located in California, U.S.A., has a multi-function pin RT. FIGS. 1 and 2 show two light emitting diode (LED) driver systems, of which integrated circuit IC₁ is HV9910B, suggested in the datasheet of HV9910B. The detailed system circuit operation of FIGS. 1 and 2 can be found in the datasheet of HV9910B. Briefly speaking, as power switch Q₁ is turned on, inductor L starts to store the energy and current I_(LED) flows from the power source V_(IN) through LEDs LED₁ to LED_(N), inductor L, power switch Q₁, and resistor R_(CS). If current I_(LED) is as large as a preset value, then power switch Q₁ is turned off, inductor L starts to release the stored energy and current I_(LED) flows through a loop composed of LEDs LED₁ to LED_(N), inductor L, and diode D. As for the turned-off power switch Q₁, it is again turned on depending on the operation mode. FIG. 1 shows the system operated in the pulse width modulation (PWM) mode; FIG. 2 shows the system operated in the constant off-time mode.

The difference between FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 is only the way for connecting resistor R_(T). If integrated circuit IC₁ determines that one end of resistor R_(T) is connected to the ground (GND) through multi-function pin RT, as shown in FIG. 1, integrated circuit IC₁ would make the entire LED driver system operate in the PWM mode, such that switching frequency f_(PWM) would be about a fixed value. If integrated circuit IC₁ determines that the end of resistor R_(T) is connected to pin GATE to receive a high voltage (e.g. 12V) therefrom, as shown in FIG. 2, integrated circuit IC₁ would make the entire LED driver system operate in the constant off-time mode, such that off-time T_(OFF) is about a fixed value. The resistance of resistor R_(T) is also used to determine switching frequency f_(PWM) in the PWM mode or off-time T_(OFF) in the constant off-time mode.

In other words, multi-function pin RT is used not only to determine the operation mode of integrated circuit IC₁ but also to determine the off-time of power switch Q₁.

However, such multi-function pin RT design may cause the negative effects to the internal circuit design of integrated circuit IC₁.

These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 and 2 are two conventional light emitting diode (LED) drivers.

FIG. 3 is an LED driver system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a part of a circuit in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method for operating the circuit in FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

For easily understanding the objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention, a detailed description with preferred embodiments accompanying figures is described as follows.

FIG. 3 is an LED driver system 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Different to integrated circuit IC₁ in FIGS. 1 and 2, integrated circuit IC₂ in FIG. 3 is determined to operate in the PWM mode or the constant off-time mode according to the resistance of resistor R_(T), so as to control power switch Q₁ for converting the power and then driving LEDs LED₁ to LED_(N). Since the principle and the operation between power switch Q₁, current detecting resistor R_(CS), inductor L, capacitors C_(IN) and C_(OUT), diode D, and LEDs LED₁ to LED_(N) in FIG. 3 are identical or similar to the corresponding elements in FIG. 1, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

With reference to FIG. 3, if the resistance of resistor R_(T) is larger than 8.5 KΩ, integrated circuit IC₂ operates in the constant off-time mode. Thus, off-time T_(OFF), i.e. the period from power switch Q₁ turned off to it turned on again, is an approximate fixed time that is determined by the resistance of resistor R_(T).

As shown in FIG. 3, if the resistance of resistor R_(T) is smaller than 8.5 KΩ, integrated circuit IC₂ operates in the PWM mode. Thus, switching frequency f_(PWM), i.e. the reciprocal of the time interval for one turn-on time and a consecutive turn-off time of power switch Q₁, is an approximate fixed frequency that is determined by the resistance of resistor R_(T).

Therefore, multi-function pin RT is used to determine not only the operation mode of integrated circuit IC₂ but also the switching time of power switch Q₁.

Compared to multi-function pin RT of integrated circuit IC₂ in FIG. 3, multi-function pin RT of integrated circuit IC₁ in FIGS. 1 and 2 will have two problems as follows.

1. A high voltage circuit is needed for the input/output (I/O) circuit of multi-function pin RT of integrated circuit IC₁. Because pin GATE is used to turn on/off power switch Q₁, the output voltage from pin GATE is usually a high voltage, for example, 12 volts. Since multi-function pin RT of integrated circuit IC₁ in FIG. 2 is connected to pin GATE, the I/O circuit of pin RT has to use high voltage circuit for tolerating the high voltage (12V) signal from pin GATE.

2. The I/O circuit of multi-function pin RT of integrated circuit IC₁ may be interfered by the high frequency switching signal. Pin GATE of integrated circuit IC₁ outputs a high frequency signal to turn on/off power switch Q₁. When integrated circuit IC₁ operates in the constant off-time mode in FIG. 2, such high frequency switching signal enters multi-function pin RT through resistor R_(T), and further affects a constant off-time control circuit connected to multi-function pin RT. Hence integrated circuit IC₁ needs extra protection to prevent the I/O circuit of multi-function pin RT from being interfered by the high frequency switching signal outputted from pin GATE.

Multi-function pin RT of integrated circuit IC₂ in FIG. 3 does not have the problems as mentioned above. A low voltage, for example, 5 volts, circuit may be used for the I/O circuit of multi-function pin RT of integrated circuit IC₂. This is because multi-function pin RT of integrated circuit IC₂ is always coupled to the ground (GND) and does not receive the high voltage (12V) signal, whether integrated circuit IC₂ operates in the constant off-time mode or the PWM mode. It is well-known that low voltage (e.g. 5V) circuit generally costs a smaller chip area than high voltage (e.g. 12V) circuit, and thus it is more likely to reduce the cost if the low voltage circuit is put to use. Similarly, as shown in FIG. 3, since multi-function pin RT of integrated circuit IC₂ and pin GATE are separated whether integrated circuit IC₂ operates in the constant off-time mode or the PWM mode, multi-function pin RT of integrated circuit IC₂ is not interfered by the high frequency signal outputted from pin GATE. This is why an extra cost for the protection of the high frequency interference is not needed for integrated circuit IC₂.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a part of the circuit in FIG. 3. With reference to FIG. 4, integrated circuit IC₂ comprises controller 202, mode determination circuit 204, and voltage setting circuit 206. Controller 202 controls switching of power switch Q₁ in FIG. 3 through pin GATE. Mode determination circuit 204 detects the current flowing through multi-function pin RT and thus equally detects the resistance of resistor R_(T) as well. According to the detected resistance, Mode determination circuit 204 sends out the mode signal S_(MODE) to set controller 202 operating in one of the operation modes. For example, if the resistance of resistor R_(T) is larger than 8.5 KΩ, mode determination circuit 204 sets controller 202 to operate in the constant off-time mode and sends out time signal S_(TIME) according to the detected resistance of resistor R_(T) to determine off-time T_(OFF). When the resistance of resistor R_(T) is smaller than 8.5 KΩ, mode determination circuit 204 sets controller 202 to operate in the PWM mode and sends out time signal S_(TIME) according to the detected resistance of resistor R_(T) to determine switching frequency f_(PWM).

Voltage setting circuit 206 sets voltage V_(RT) of multi-function pin RT according to mode signal S_(MODE). As shown in FIG. 4, voltage setting circuit 206 comprises a multiplexer 2062 that has three input terminals receiving the fixed voltages V_(REFH), V_(REF0), and V_(REFL), respectively. In this embodiment, V_(REFH), V_(REF0), and V_(REFL) are 1V, 0.6 V, and 0.2V, respectively. According to mode signal S_(MODE), multiplexer 2062 selects one of fixed voltages V_(REFH), V_(REF0), and V_(REFL) as a reference voltage V_(REF) to output to comparator 2064. The circuit connection between comparator 2064 and switch Q_(C) can maintain voltage V_(RT) of multi-function pin RT about equal to the reference voltage V_(REF). Besides, current I_(RT) passing through resistor R_(T) will also flow through switch Q_(C) and be detected by mode determination circuit 204.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method of an embodiment for operating the circuit in FIG. 4. With reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, step 502 shows that when integrated circuit IC₂ in FIG. 4 is just connected to the power supply, the power supply will be stable after a settle time, and after fixed voltages V_(REFH), V_(REF0), and V_(REFL) are steadily generated, other steps will then be performed. In step 504, mode determination circuit 204 makes multiplexer 2062 select to output fixed voltage V_(REF0) according to mode signal S_(MODE), so that voltage V_(RT) of multi-function pin RT is approximately equal to fixed voltage V_(REF0). In step 506, mode determination circuit 204 detects current I_(RT) flowing through multi-function pin RT. In step 508, current I_(RT) is compared to determine whether it is smaller than a predetermined current value I_(RT0). With reference to FIG. 4, fixed voltage V_(REF0) is 0.6V and the predetermined value of current I_(RT0) is 70 μA. Thus, in steps 506 and 508, mode determination circuit 204 equivalently determines whether the resistance of resistor R_(T) is larger than 8.5 KΩ (˜0.6V/70 uA). If the resistance of resistor R_(T) is determined to be larger than 8.5 KΩ, mode determination circuit 204 determines integrated circuit IC₂ to operate in the off-time mode and then step 510 is performed; if the resistance of resistor R_(T) is determined to be smaller than 8.5 KΩ, mode determination circuit 204 determines integrated circuit IC₂ to operate in the PWM mode and then step 520 is performed.

Similar to step 504, in step 510, mode determination circuit 204 changes voltage V_(RT) of multi-function pin RT to fixed voltage V_(REFH) through voltage setting circuit 206. As shown in FIG. 4, fixed voltage V_(REFH) is 1V. In step 512, mode determination circuit 204 detects current I_(RT) flowing through multi-function pin RT. In step 514, mode determination circuit 204 indicates controller 202 to operate in the constant off-time mode. Moreover, mode determination circuit 204, as shown in step 516, controls off-time T_(OFF) in the constant off-time mode according to current I_(RT). For example, if current I_(RT) is about 93.747 μA, which means the resistance of resistor R_(T) is about 10.667 KΩ (˜1V/93.747 uA), off-time T_(OFF) is about 0.5 micro-seconds; if current I_(RT) is about 0.93747 μA, which means the resistance of resistor R_(T) is about 1.06667 MΩ (˜1V/93.747 uA), off-time T_(OFF) is about 50 micro-seconds.

In step 520, mode determination circuit 204 changes voltage V_(RT) of multi-function pin RT to fixed voltage V_(REFL) through voltage setting circuit 206. With reference to FIG. 4, fixed voltage V_(REFL) is 0.2V. In step 522, mode determination circuit 204 then detects current I_(RT) flowing through multi-function pin RT. In step 524, mode determination circuit 204 indicates controller 202 to operate in the PWM mode. Similarly, mode determination circuit 204 controls switching frequency f_(PWM) in the PWM mode in accordance with the current I_(RT). For example, integrated circuit IC₂ may be designed that if the current I_(RT) is about 30 μA, which means the resistance of resistor R_(T) is about 6.667 KΩ (˜0.2V/30 uA), switching frequency f_(PWM) of integrated circuit IC₂ is about 30 KHz; if current I_(RT) is about 200 μA, which means the resistance of resistor R_(T) is about 1 KΩ (˜0.2V/200 uA), switching frequency f_(PWM) of integrated circuit IC₂ is about 200 KHz.

With reference to the above embodiment, 8.5 KΩ is a watershed. Resistor R_(T) with the resistance larger than 8.5 KΩ may make integrated circuit IC₂ operate in the constant off-time mode, and this resistance may be as large as 1.0667 MΩ. Resistor R_(T) with the resistance smaller than 8.5 KΩ may make integrated circuit IC₂ operate in the PWM mode, and this resistance may be as small as 1 KΩ. To sum up, in this embodiment, the usable resistance range of resistor R_(T) is from 1 KΩ to 1.0667 MΩ and the largest resistance is about 1000 (i.e. 10 to the power of three) times to the smallest resistance.

According to the above embodiments, if the operation mode changes, voltage V_(RT) of multi-function pin RT will change; thereby the problem of serious variation in current I_(RT) is solved. Alternatively, if voltage V_(RT) of multi-function pin RT stays constant and does not change with the operation modes, it would be difficult to design integrated circuit IC₂ because integrated circuit IC₂ needs to identify current I_(RT) with variation up to 10³ times. From the above embodiment, if voltage V_(RT) of multi-function pin RT is switched with the operation modes, the variation in current I_(RT) would decrease to 10² times (from 0.93747 μA to 200 μA) and the current detecting ability requirement of integrated circuit IC₂ can be relatively relaxed so that it can be designed more easily.

As described above, the above embodiment discloses that the I/O circuit of multi-function pin RT needs only a low voltage circuit and the I/O circuit of the multi-function pin is prevented from being interfered by the high-frequency signals, and the problem of possibly wide variation in current I_(RT) is solved as well. Nevertheless, the scope of the present invention does not limit to the LED driver system and the effects disclosed in the above embodiments.

Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. 

1. An integrated circuit, comprising: a controller for controlling a power switch, the controller set to operate in one of operation modes, the operation modes comprising a first operation mode and a second operation mode; a multi-function pin for connecting an external resistor; a mode determination circuit for detecting a signal representing a resistance of the external resistor from the multi-function pin, and thus indicating the controller to operate in a first operation mode if the resistance within a first range or operate in a second operation mode if the resistance within a second range, wherein the operation modes are used for power conversion; and a voltage setting circuit for setting voltage of the multi-function pin to approximately a first fixed voltage before the mode determination circuit indicates the controller to operate in the first operation mode or the second operation mode, for setting the voltage of the multi-function pin to approximately a second fixed voltage after the mode determination circuit indicates the controller to operate in the first operation mode, and for setting the voltage of the multi-function pin to approximately a third fixed voltage after the mode determination circuit indicates the controller to operate in the second operation mode, wherein the first fixed voltage is between the second fixed voltage and the third fixed voltage.
 2. The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein the first operation mode is a pulse width modulation (PWM) mode and the second operation mode is a constant off-time mode.
 3. The integrated circuit of claim 2, wherein the resistance of the external resistor is used to determine an operation frequency of the PWM mode or an off-time of the constant off-time mode.
 4. The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein the power switch is used in a power conversion system.
 5. A method for determining operation modes, comprising: providing an integrated circuit having a multi-function pin connected to an external resistor; detecting resistance of the external resistor by: setting voltage of the multi-function pin to approximately a first fixed voltage and detecting current flowing through the external resistor; setting the voltage of the multi-function pin to approximately a second fixed voltage if the resistance is smaller than a first predetermined resistance, wherein the second fixed voltage is smaller than the first fixed voltage; and setting the voltage of the multi-function pin to approximately a third fixed voltage if the resistance is larger than a first predetermined resistance, wherein the third fixed voltage is larger than the first fixed voltage; performing a power conversion by controlling a power switch in a first operation mode if the resistance is smaller than the first predetermined resistance; and performing the power conversion by controlling the power switch in a second operation mode if the resistance is larger than the first predetermined resistance; wherein the second operation mode is different from the first operation mode.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first operation mode is a pulse width modulation (PWM) mode and the second operation mode is a constant off-time mode.
 7. The method of claim 6, further comprising: controlling switching time of the power switch in accordance with the resistance of the external resistor.
 8. The method of claim 5, wherein the power switch is used to drive a plurality of light emitting diodes (LED). 